Journey to Castelobruxo
by Liz Jean Tonks
Summary: James and Sirius are excited when they find out they can visit another Wizarding School for a month.


**School and Theme**: Mahoutokoro, **Department for International Magical Cooperation**

**Main Prompt**: [platonic pairing] James Potter/Sirius Black

**Additional Prompts**: [Spell] Portus; [Emotion] Excitement

**Year**: 6 (Stand-in)

**Wordcount**: 2073

* * *

"Hey, did you see that?" James stopped Sirius as the Marauders were on their way to the boys' dormitories.

Sirius turned around. "What?"

James pointed at the blackboard. There was a colourful notice hanging there that hadn't been there this morning.

"_School Exchange Program_," he read aloud. _"The participants of the Program will get the opportunity to stay at the Brazilian Wizarding School Castelobruxo for 4 weeks. At the end of the school year, the students of Castelobruxo will visit our school. Anyone who wishes to take part in the program should sign up with their Head of House, who will provide them with further information."_

James stopped reading. "Brazil!" he said. "Wicked!"

He beamed at his friends. "What do you think?"

Remus shrugged. "Seems like a nice opportunity," he said. "It can't hurt making friends on the other side of the world, can it? Now that the Dark Side seems to take over in Britain..."

"Yes," James interrupted him, "but what do you think? Will you sign up?" His voice was hopeful.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Sure," he said sarcastically, "a werewolf in the exchange program, they'd be overjoyed. Four weeks away from here? That means at least one full moon." He shook his head. "There is no way I can leave the castle."

"Hm, right," James mumbled. He didn't think that, if it had been him, being a werewolf wouldn't stop him from entering the program. But he knew Remus was different and he didn't want to spark off a debate. "Peter, what about you?"

The blonde boy sadly shook his head. "I don't think I can go away for a month either," he said. "Professor McGonagall said to me that if my Transfiguration grade doesn't improve significantly, there is no way she'll permit me to take Transfiguration NEWT class."

"So what?" James said, irritated. "Then just don't take Transfiguration NEWT class. Grades! You're an Animagus, for heaven's sake."

"Shh," said Remus.

Peter shrugged. "But I want to take Transfiguration," he said shyly. "I probably won't get Charms, and – "

"Yes, yes," James said and turned to Sirius. "Please tell me you won't let me down."

To his relief, Sirius seemed to be as excited as he was. He grinned and shook his head. "Four weeks at the Amazon rainforest? Away from school? Count me in!"

* * *

A month later, everything had been prepared. There were nine other students that had signed up for the Exchange Program; apart from James and Sirius, there were 3 Hufflepuffs, 1 Ravenclaw, 3 Slytherins, and 2 other Gryffindors. Sadly, no one of their Gryffindor classmates had decided to take the journey. Lily had apparently considered signing up but when she'd found out that James was going, she had backed away – a fact that deeply frustrated James. But he wasn't sure if the story was true since it had been transferred to him by Sirius and Peter, who weren't the most reliable sources.

Professor Kettleburn was the teacher who had organized the exchange and was in charge of the students. They wanted to depart at 8pm, Saturday the 5th of May.

It was five past nine when James and Sirius arrived in the Great Hall. The other students and Professor Kettleburn were already waiting for them. Professor Kettleburn glanced at his watch and gave them a disapproving look.

"Sorry," James said. "It was my mistake, I forgot my sw – wand."

Sirius smiled at him. Professor Kettleburn had prohibited them to pack any sweets or food in general, since they might not make it through the customs, but the two boys didn't want to leave without at least one bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. They were sure they didn't have those in Brazil, so they would be great to play tricks on the other students.

"Well," the Professor said. "Now that everyone's here – " He quickly counted the students before he continued – "we can finally depart. Let me set up the Portkey." In his hand, he held an old blanket that he aimed at with his wand.

"_Portus_." There were blue sparks bursting from the end of Kettleburn's wand. Professor Kettleburn pocketed his wand again. "The Portkey will set off in exactly five minutes," he explained. "Does everyone have their things?"

All the students nodded, exchanging excited looks. James and Sirius nervously grinned at each other. They couldn't wait to begin a new adventure.

James wasn't often lost for words, but when he saw Castelobruxo for the first time, he was speechless. He knew that like every other magical school the castle was hidden from Muggles' eyes but he wouldn't have guessed that 'hidden' in that case meant placed in a hollow bole in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. It was an Undetectable Extension Charm of the finest sort.

The castle itself was enormous. It was probably no bigger than Hogwarts, if not smaller, but it was way higher.

"How many staircases do you reckon this thing has?" Sirius muttered.

They walked over the grassy lane that led to the big gate that was decorated with big letters saying '_Bem vindo a Castelobruxo_'.

They entered the gate, looking around curiously. A witch was already waiting for them to greet them. She was wearing a flowery hat. Her hair was dark-brown as well as her skin and her eyes beamed at them in light green.

"Bom dia, professor Kettleburn! É um prazer vê-lo novamente! Você teve uma boa viagem?" She turned to the students. "Bem vindo! É um prazer conhecer você."

James had no idea what she was saying, but Professor Kettleburn seemed to know Portuguese since he replied to her at once. They talked to each other excitedly before turning to the students again.

"We'll meet the Brazilian students now," Professor Kettleburn said. "Please follow Senhora Pinto, and try to be as quiet as possible. Most of the students are in their afternoon classes now." It was weird to have departed at Hogwarts in the evening and arrive here when it was not even 5 o'clock.

They climbed up several staircases until Senhora Pinto led them into a classroom. 12 students sat at the desks. They curiously stared at the Hogwarts students as they came in. Senhora Pinto said something to them, and they got up and started shaking the other's hands and saying their names. James, a little overwhelmed by that welcome, stuttered his name.

Senhora Pinto and Professor Kettleburn divided the group in teams of four, always two Brazilian and two British students together. James stayed close to Sirius to ensure they'd be put in the same group. They were paired with a Brazilian girl and boy. Both looked nice, but James had forgotten their names.

"Agora estamos guiando você pela escola," the girl said.

"Er..." James said, looking for Professor Kettleburn but he seemed to have disappeared. Hopeful, he looked at Sirius, who looked as lost as James.

"Eh... Nous ne comprenons pas," Sirius muttered.

James looked at him surprised. "You speak Portuguese?"

"Not one word," Sirius said, "that was French. And apparently they didn't understand."

"Entendeu? Não?" the girl asked.

Sirius shook his head. They looked around, but all the other students were outside. Apparently they had prepared better and didn't have any issues with communication.

"Eh, nós – " The girl pointed at herself and the boy – "mostrar – " she pointed to the door – "a – schoola?"

"School?" James asked.

She nodded. "Sim! School!"

"Okay," James said and nodded. Sirius looked at him, and James shrugged. "I guess they'll show us around or something. I'm not sure though."

Sirius turned to the girl. "Montrer?" he asked.

"Sim, mostrar," she nodded.

"Montrer means 'show' in English," Sirius told James. "So I reckon you're right if these two languages are as similar as they sound."

The boy gestured them to follow them.

"I didn't know you spoke French," James said to Sirius.

He shrugged. "My mother wanted me and my brother to learn it. No idea why. I'm not as fluent as I was a couple of years ago, but I still know quite a lot. Mother has her way to beat the vocabulary into you."

* * *

The two students were called José and Márcia and when they were finished with their tour, James and Sirius were exhausted. They had always thought that Hogwarts had many staircases, but in Castelobruxo the sky was apparently the limit.

Márcia told them that they were going to the Quidditch pitch tomorrow. 'Quidditch' was a word they all understood and James beamed as he heard it. He had brought his broom, and he couldn't wait to show those Brazilian students what flying was.

However, when they came to the pitch the next morning, it was already occupied by a Brazilian boy. He had hair similar messy as James and even James had to admit that he was amazing on a broom. Márcia rolled her eyes as she saw the boy. "Pedro."

James looked at her questioning. "Ele é..." She looked in her pockets. After communication had been so difficult the day before, Márcia had borrowed a dictionary from the school's library. She searched in it for a moment and then she said. "A git. He's a git."

"Oh," James said, not knowing what else to say. Another girl entered the pitch and Márcia waved heavily. "Carol!" she shouted, and then she called something James didn't understand. The girl came over.

Márcia introduced them to each other and then she said, very slowly: "Carol … speaks … English."

"Ah," James said, "Hi."

"Hi," Carol said. "My mother is British. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," James said. "Do you think we can play Quidditch?" The question had been burning on his tongue since they got here.

"Maybe later," Carol said. "You don't want to go on the pitch when Pedro flies there." She turned to Márcia to translate what they had just said.

"What about Pedro?" James asked.

"He's a git," Márcia said.

"Arrogant," Carol added. "Thinks he owns the world."

Márcia said something in Portuguese and Carol translated for James. "And he fancies Márcia. He tries not to show, but it's more than obvious. He asks her out pretty much every day and doesn't take No for an answer."

"Eu o odeio," Márcia said.

"What did she say?"

"I hate him."

They told him a little more about Pedro. Apparently, he was an insufferable bragger who obsessed over Márcia. He thought of himself as the greatest Quidditch star. And for some reason, he reminded James of someone.

"He always messes up his hair." Carol said, "He thinks it looks cool, but it just seems like he's too lazy to use a hairbrush."

"Eu o odeio," Márcia said again.

"She's really annoyed by him. We both are."

James nodded slowly. He looked over to Sirius and wanted to ask him what he thought about Pedro, but Sirius was busy talking to José. Apparently they had no language problems anymore and spoke a mixture of French, Portuguese and English.

"He doesn't look that horrible to me," he said to Carol and Márcia. "What would he have to do to make you like him?"

Márcia sneered as if that was very unlikely to ever happen. However, after she thought about it she said that she'd appreciate it if he stopped asking her out so much.

"If he'd just be nicer, you know," Carol said. "If he'd just ask her how her day's been. And stops bragging, of course."

"Hm," James said thoughtfully.

* * *

The four weeks flew by and before James and Sirius knew it, they were on their way back to Hogwarts.

Their friends greeted them happily, but James immediately went over to Lily, who was sitting at the window.

"Hey, Lily," he said. "We're back."

She looked up. "I can see that." She looked over to Sirius, Remus, and Peter who were loudly exchanging stories. "And hear it."

James swallowed and tried a smile. "Erm, yeah." He was about to turn around but changed his mind and after clearing his throat, he said: "You know, Lily, I was wondering – how has your day been?"


End file.
